Handling bulk materials by railroad car



Jan. 16, 1962 J, L, BECKEL 3,016,846

HANDLING BULK MATERIALS BY RAILROAD CAR Filed Sept. 14, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG,/.

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54 55 i Z [3 I V /2 /2 [NI/EH70? Jan. 16, 1962 J. L. BECKEL HANDLING BULK MATERIALS BY RAILROAD CAR Filed Sept. 14, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet warm Jan. 16, 1962 J. L. BECKEL HANDLING BULK MATERIALS BY RAILROAD CAR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 14, 1960 ja :KMHZ.

States 5,016,846 HANDLING BULK MAXIEIRIALS BY RAILROAD This invention relates to a universal bulk economy self unloading car to transport materials such as coal, ore, sand, bauxite, stone, wheat, corn, oats, or the like. The invention may be employed with particular advantage in time and economy in unloading the materials. The invention eliminates a car unloader, a car shaker, and means of heating frozen materials, as the invention embodies a self unloading device and an enclosed body to protect materials being transported from the elements, thus eliminating the need for car shakers or heaters to properly discharge the material.

The transporting of materials, such as mentioned, in bulk, in a car which will protect them from the elements and will allow the unloading of the materials without special handling equipment, is of considerable commercial advantage because of the tremendous saving of labor, capital investment, and maintenance, of auxiliary unloading equipment required with conventional hopper cars.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a self unloading car to carry materials referred to, and others, whereby the body is constructed in a novel manner, to contain the material protected from the elements, during transportation. A further object of the invention is to provide a method of unloading materials by rotating the body of the car. A further object is to indicate a method of construction, for the support of a car body, allowing it to rotate freely, on the under carriage, to discharge the contents thereof. Other objects relate to the several features of construction, arrangements and operation which will appear more fully hereinafter. The nature of the invention will be understood from the following specifications taken with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a partial plan of the self unloading car with parts thereof broken away to reveal the interior construction and the body support on a typical railroad car underframe.

FIG. 2 shows a partial elevation of the car with portions thereof broken away.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1, with a portion of the intermediate bolster broken away to illustrate the rollers on which the car body rotates; together with a showing of the means for rotating the car body.

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged detail section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows a detail section taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged detail section taken on line 7--.7 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 shows an enlarged detail section taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 shows an enlarged detail section taken on line 9-9' of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 shows an enlarged elevation taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 shows an enlarged plan view taken on line 11--11 of FIG. 10.

As illustrated in the drawings, the invention is embodied in a railroad car consisting of the standard wheeled trucks and flanged wheels 12 upon which there is supported the car unclerframe consisting of a conven- Patented Jan. 16, 1%2

tional longitudinal center, sill 13 and transverse body bolsters 14. The departure from the usual underframe consists in side sills 15 with intermediate bolsters 16 which partially support, in conjunction with center sill 15, the car body.

The car body to contain the material to be transported, consists of a plate shell 17, formed as a cylinder, with the end portions sloped to allow the easy discharge of the material when the car body is rotated This cylindrical shell 17 is reinforced, at points of support, at the intermediate bolsters 16, by means of an angle rib 18 curved to conform to the diameter of the shell body 17. Additional reinforcement is provided, to sue tain the imposed loads, by means of a plate 19 fastened, by welding to the plate shell 17 and also by a hardened steel plate 20 welded or secured to the outside of the shell 17 to provide a rigid support on which the car body rotates on hardened steel rollers 21. The rollers 21 are in turn supported by the intermediate bolsters 16 transferring the load between the center sill l4 and side sills 15.

The car body shell 17 has openings for the loading of material and for its discharge. These openings are provided with sliding covers 22 which, after the material is loaded into the car body, are closed to protect the contents from the elements. The sliding arrangement is provided for by small rollers 23 attached to the sliding cover 22 by shafts 214 welded or otherwise secured to the sliding cover 22. The rollers ride freely in a track 25 curved to fit the plate shell 17 and fastened thereto by welding or other means and are of sufiicient length to allow the. movement of the sliding covers 22 from closed position to fully opened position 22a, shown in FIG. 3 and at the ends of which are stops 26 to hold the sliding covers 22 from going beyond their proper position. The sliding cover 22 is reinforced with small angles 27 to keep it firm and rigid. Handles 28 are pro vided on the sliding cover-22 to aid in opening and closing it.

The openings in the car body shell 1'7 are reinforced at the edges by means of an angle 29 to which is fastened a strike plate 3% located at the cover latching device 3-1. To strengthen the car body shell 17 in a 1ongitudinal direction, where the openings occur, a bent plate rib 32 is welded to the inside of the shell 17 terminating at the rib angle 18.

The self unloading feature is carried out by having the shell 17 rotate through 180 on rollers 21, which is accomplished by turning a wheel 33 secured to a shaft 34 supported by bearings 35 on the underside of the side sill 15. Shaft 34- drives a gear 36 which meshes with a gear 37, which in turn meshes with a miter gear 38. Gear 33 is afiiired to a shaft supported by a bearing 39 and carries a pinion gear 40 which in turn meshes with a circular rack gear 41 which is secured circumferentially about the outer surface of shell 17, causing the entire shell to rotate though an arc of 180. The gear mechanism is enclosed in a dustproof cover 4-2 with a removable portion to allow for proper maintenance.

Levers 43, shown in FIG. 10, are arranged for movement from a closed position, indicated by dash lines in FIG. 11, to open position shown in full lines in the same figure. Levers 43 actuate connecting bars 44, 45 and 46 which operate the latch opening bars 47, locating the same in a position to release the latch device 31, which holds the sliding cover 22 in a closed position as shown in FIG. 7.

Levers 43 can be operated independently, to allow the opening of individual covers 22, to discharge the material at a confined location or may be operated simultaneously to discharge the entire contents in one operation. With the latch opening bars 47 in position to re- 

